Long Itchington Cricket Club celebrates 25 years of junior section

Long Itchington Cricket Club (LICC) marked the 25th anniversary of its junior section with two special challenge matches at their Stonebridge Lane ground.

The club’s newly reformed junior section had played its very first U13 friendly away fixture, as recorded in its first ever scorebook, against Barby in June 1992.

LICC hosted the celebration game against Barby at its annual open day, with the sides represented by a mix of U11s, U13s and U15s.

In a nail-biting finish, the 20-over game was won by Long Itchington off the very last ball.

This was followed by a special challenge match comprising LICC junior section players past and present, ranging from 14 to 40, coached by the section’s founders Allen Hickling and Steve Mitchell.

The teams included several players whose names appeared in the 1992 scorebook, including Nick Brooks – now the club’s second team captain – Sam Blundell, James Clarke – currently first team captain – and Mitchel Lowe, and many more who hadn’t picked up a bat or ball for many years.